Chidlren pose for photographers in front of the shortlisted three mascot design sets which each contain one mascot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and one for the Paralympic Games at an elementary school in Tokyo Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. Eugene HoshikoAP Photo

Chidlren pose for photographers in front of the shortlisted three mascot design sets which each contain one mascot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and one for the Paralympic Games at an elementary school in Tokyo Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. Eugene HoshikoAP Photo

Mascot designs for 2020 Tokyo Olympics shortlisted

The Associated Press

December 06, 2017 08:26 PM

UPDATED December 06, 2017 08:27 PM

TOKYO

Japanese schoolchildren will help determine the mascot for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics on Thursday unveiled three sets of designs for the games' mascots. The 6.5 million schoolchildren will review the shortlisted designs with their classes casting a single vote in favor of one of the three sets.

The three finalists were selected from among 2,042 entries submitted by the public, with the winner to be announced on Feb. 28.

The first set is a pair of humanoid characters clad in the 'ichimatsu" checkered pattern of the Games' official logo.

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